Electrical feedthrough assemblies provide a conductive path extending between the interior of a hermetically sealed container and a point outside the container. Electrical feedthroughs are utilized by many industries for avoiding any leakage of gases or fluids. Industries requiring an electrical feedthrough include the aerospace industry, telecommunication industry, semiconductor industry, medical device industry with respect to implantable devices, and automotive industry for systems including fuel pumps, transmissions, process controls, and marine systems. Scientific instruments of all types also require an electrical feedthrough between varied environmental conditions. As an example, in a laboratory environment, a pressurized chamber is typically used for product evaluation of a pressure sensor for automotive or industrial applications. Since a pressurized chamber is often used to test various parts, numerous connections must be established with a device situated outside the pressurized chamber.
In order to communicate with or power a unit being evaluated, a high pressure feedthrough is often required. With so many applications, a varied number and varied type or size of input/output connections are required. As such, contemporary feedthrough devices are commonly custom made to order and are relatively expensive. Contemporary feedthrough devices for pressurized chambers typically contain about twenty input/output connection wires. As the number of inputs and outputs increase, the costs of the feedthrough devices increase, with a significant cost increase at about one hundred input/output connections. Further, the size limitation of contemporary feedthrough devices can dictate the size and construction design of a pressurized chamber. These limitations place undesirable restrictions on the pressurized chamber design.
Environmental conditions including high temperatures and the presence of a corrosive gas can further limit the design of an electrical feedthrough. Feedthrough corrosion may be, and often is encountered with contemporary devices. The corrosion can ultimately compromise a seal, resulting in leakage between the necessary separate environmental conditions.